Page 43 of Remember Me

“Not because it's expected. Not because he thinks he needs to lock me down. Not because it would be a big F you to his father.”

“And those are the wrong reasons?”

I nodded. “For us, yes. I want it to be just about us when it happens. Not about anyone else's expectations.”

“Fair enough,” Reign conceded. “Though for what it's worth, I think you guys cleared that hurdle years ago. I've never seen anyone more obviously meant for each other—except maybe me and Devin.” She winked.

“That is high praise, coming from half of the Walker power couple.”

Delaney suddenly appeared at Reign's side, tugging insistently on her mother's sleeve. “Mom! Dad hit that old quarterback and everyone’s screaming!”

“Duty calls,” Reign sighed, allowing herself to be dragged away.

I took a moment to soak in the suite's atmosphere—the excited chatter, the bursts of cheering, the sense of being surrounded by people who had somehow become family despite starting as strangers thrown together by mere location of my grandmother’s house.

“You look thoughtful,” a voice commented, and I turned to find Aiden beside me, two glasses of champagne in hand. He offered one to me, his fingertips brushing mine as I accepted.

“Just people-watching,” I replied, taking a sip.

His eyes swept over my face, reading me in that way he'd always been able to. “Reign asking about marriage again?”

I nearly choked on my champagne. “How did you know?”

“Because she's Reign,” he said simply. “And because I know that particular expression on your face.”

“Oh? And what expression is that?”

“The 'I love Aiden but I'm not ready to admit he's right about everything' expression.”

I rolled my eyes but couldn't stop my smile. “You're insufferable.”

“And yet you suffer me quite happily.” He stepped closer, his hand finding the small of my back in that possessive way that should have annoyed me but never did. “Got any calls from Benny or Ford this evening?”

“Benny and Ford? Why would I get a call from them in the middle of the night?”

“Right answer,” he said with a wink.

I rolled my eyes. “You know what? Actually, maybe I need to call Benny about the Tudor in Brentwood. The one with the original woodwork and the disaster of a kitchen. It really needs his input urgently,” I teased.

Aiden took a sip of his champagne, nodding as his thumb traced small circles against my lower back. “Is that the one you've been sketching renovation plans for at three in the morning?”

I pulled back a little, surprised that he didn’t immediately go for a fancy retort. “You noticed that?”

“I notice everything about you, Alyssa.” His voice had dropped lower, more intimate despite the crowd around us. “Even the way you drool on the blueprints when you finally pass out on them.”

“I do not drool!”

“It's adorable drool,” he assured me solemnly. “Very professional, and something I like seeing when your mouth is around my cock.”

I swatted his arm but leaned into him all the same.

He kissed my forehead, keeping me close even though I was trying to playfully squirm out of his hold. “Grandma Lou would be proud of you,” he said.

That immediately made me relax in his hold. For all of Aiden’s teasing, he knew what to say to make me melt without even trying.

“You think?”

“Oh, yeah.” Then he thought about it. “Though she'd probably be prouder that you've kept me in line all these years.”

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